Match of the Day: Players and managers won't be asked to do interviews following Gary Lineker controversy

It comes after the BBC told host Gary Lineker to step back following his criticism of government asylum policy.

The show will air on Saturday night without a studio presenter, pundits or its regular commentators.

A number of players from various clubs had suggested they wanted to boycott post-match interviews with the show.

They had contacted the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) to say they may want to show solidarity with Lineker and the MOTD pundits.

Now the Premier League has told the PFA, League Managers Association (LMA) and the clubs not to expect requests to conduct post-match interviews for the programme.

The news comes after Match of the Day commentator, and Billingshurst based, Steve Wilson, announced that he will be stepping down from tonight’s broadcast of the show in solidarity with Gary Lineker after he was pulled from the footballing programme by the BBC.

In a series of tweets, Wilson, on Friday said: “As commentators on MOTD, we have decided to step down from tomorrow night’s broadcast. We are comforted that football fans who want to watch their teams should still be able to do so, as management can use World Feed commentary if they wish."

On Twitter, former England striker Lineker compared the language used by the government to unveil its new plans as "not dissimilar to" 1930s Germany.

The BBC said it it had asked Lineker to step back from presenting after "extensive discussions" with him.